The Incredible Pettiness of Mr. Trump

America has had its fair share of not too intelligent presidents, but in most of the cases when such people got elected they made up for their intellectual shortcomings by either being compassionate and kind, or by simply projecting a popular I-am-just-like-you-all persona. That Mr. Trump does not have the required experience and intelligence to run this country is fairly obvious, but what, in my view, is even more startling is his tendency to be petty, little, and mean.

In fact, this is probably the first time in post World War American history that a person with a foul temper, juvenile behavior, and petty attitude has won the nomination of a major political party. So, if he gets elected, America will, for the first time, have a president who is likely to stomp his feet and yell and scream when he does not get his way. And, being president, no one will be able to set him straight and send him on a time out or ground him. Some people believe that as he runs for office, he will, somehow, become more presidential. But no amount of coaching will ever make Mr. Trump “presidential.” He has, in the recent weeks, become even more childish in public.

His recent attack on Ghazal Khan, the mother of a fallen Muslim soldier, is yet another example of this cruel childishness. This is classic juvenile behavior: think of your school years, doesn’t his behavior remind you of the kid who always blamed others for his own failures. It seems, whatever goes on in the world, it is always someone else’s fault and if you criticize Mr. Trump, then in his teen-age mind, you deserve to be called names or belittled.

His supporters believe that he “tells it like it is.” Not true. How many of the conservative families in America would accept their children to throw tantrums, yell at others, or call them names. How many Christians in America would be okay if their son or daughter derided the death of a fallen soldier by making his mother the object of his or her criticism. No, Mr. Trump may have a small following amongst the most uncritical and the most bigoted, but he, to me, does not represent the good Christian or conservative values; I know this because I have experienced the kindness and generosity of my conservative and Christian friends over the past twenty years or so and not even a single one of them would behave the way Mr. Trump does!

So, the question here is not whether America can afford to have an unprepared person as its next president: maybe that can be remedied with good advisors and with a lot of help. The questions here is whether America and Americans will be okay to have someone so petty as their president. After all, besides his or her policy, American presidents are also seen as as people larger than their parties and as people who can set some good examples for all Americans. American presidents, by and large, have always projected themselves as either being populist or, at least, being capable of working with grace and dignity even under the worst of circumstances. The office of the president is more than just what the president does; it is also about what kind of symbolics the president offers to the Americans and to the rest of the world.

Could someone so petty as Mr. Trump fulfill this symbolic function of the US presidency locally and globally? I don’t think so.